Full Version: Marco DTC Awards Catalog
From: Frazee1 [#14]
20 Jan 2006
To: ALL
I feel the same as lots of people here as for "out of stock" and the like. They carry some things no other suppliers carry but it does get hard to continue business with them. I buy some from them and would buy more if they were more like Plastic Plus. I would like to know up front if my order is coming from 3 different locations or even backordered. Also not too long ago, they came out with some really nice looking resins. I ordered one of each only to find out they didn't have half of my order. Because of this type of thing, how can I display their samples in my showroom if I am not sure if I can even get the items for the customers? It is scary showing their samples! They would be unbeatable if they could clean up some of the small problems. I have actually spoken to management about some of these problems. I have been told they carry so many items they can't stock it all at every location and will not attempt to. The answer to the problem is.... reduce your offerings to keep up!
ps... A customer came in WHILE I was typing this and asked for anything "new" for pinewood derby. What did I do?
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#15]
20 Jan 2006
To: Frazee1 [#14] 20 Jan 2006
I would expect either "out of stock items", or items being shipped from multiple warehouses, to increase, with companies other than Marco.
This may sound like a story from Grandpa Dave :-)
When I first entered the A&E industry (1971) award shops were stocked to the rafters. Bins and bins of trophy figures, shelves full of plaque boards, etc. The shops were basically small warehouses in their own right.
During the recession of the early 90's, shop owners began to pull in their horns and take advantage of the industry suppliers' "reason to buy", manifested in the form of same, or next day shipping; often with no minimum purchase.
The less inventory the award retailers stocked, the more pressure put on the suppliers, to have exactly what their customers needed, on-hand and ready for immediate shipment.
That has to be an incredible balancing act, and some companies can pull it off better than others.
From: joyce (JLADY) [#16]
20 Jan 2006
To: ALL
From: Toni (TONI56) [#17]
23 Jan 2006
To: ALL
Marco/Discount is not one of my regular suppliers. I order from the Chicago
warehouse only when I can't get the product any where else, about 2-3 times a year. Shipping from different warehouses has been an issue, in the fact that I wasn't aware of it at the time of the order. Getting the incorrect product, ordering 8 of 1 item, receiving 7 correct & the other one was a different sized product of what I did order. Customer service not always the the most responsive. Requiring 2 phone calls, when 1 phone call would have worked with my other suppliers. I am not trying to "bad mouth" them, they just haven't proved themselves to be the most reliable & friendly. I order PDU products from RAM in Indiana & Plastic-Plus in St. Louis. Both of them are very friendly & have done an excellent job for me.
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#18]
30 Mar 2006
To: ALL
My recent experiences with the newly opened Marco DTC warehouse in Kansas City have been good. On Tuesday I ordered 12 different items, and all 12 shipped out of the KC warehouse. Just thought I would share this update.
I am the type of person who likes to receive my invoices quickly. It seemed as though Marco's order entry and accounting procedures were not very streamlined, because I had always received my invoices at least a week or more after I received the goods. I recently asked to have them e-mail me the invoices and now I receive them the day after I receive the shipment. This works out great.
From: BrianC (INKSQUIRTER) [#19]
30 Mar 2006
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#18] 30 Mar 2006
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#20]
30 Mar 2006
To: BrianC (INKSQUIRTER) [#19] 30 Mar 2006
From: trophyman (MIKEBERGER) [#21]
30 Mar 2006
To: Toni (TONI56) [#17] 31 Mar 2006
From: basehorawards [#22]
30 Mar 2006
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#18] 30 Mar 2006
David,
I stopped in and talked with the manager of the KC office shortly after it opened. I can't remember his name as he did not have any business cards and I have those "senior moments" daily with names. He seemed like a nice guy and knew what he was talking about. Their warehouse is just about a mile from Continentals so that is convenient too. I specifically asked about the inventory levels because there had been discussion about that being an issue with Marco. He told me that they were going to stock everything that is in the catalog and in sufficient quantity to fill any reasonable sized order. Did not get a definition of reasonable though.
Good to see that they are keeping their word so far.
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#23]
30 Mar 2006
To: basehorawards [#22] 30 Mar 2006
From: basehorawards [#24]
30 Mar 2006
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#23] 30 Mar 2006
They are also right down the street from the DHL hub.
I would like to think they would not close the order desk at 4:00 central. The toll free number on the catalog for KC is the same as the one on the front cover.
I have been picking up my orders at The Source, Continental and now at Marco but have been rethinking letting them ship the one box orders to save time and miles. My accountant has me reimburse for miles and a trip to any of these three is about 40 miles roundtrip. At .48 per mile that costs the business close to $20.
From: Zonas [#25]
30 Mar 2006
To: basehorawards [#24] 30 Mar 2006
If you stop by again (Marco), would you get a local number. I have called their number on catalog and it goes to Houston. I've asked for the KC number and was told 'they don't have one'. I'm bidding a 70+ crystal award order and would like to talk to the KC office about some details.
Thanks,
Zona
From: basehorawards [#26]
30 Mar 2006
To: Zonas [#25] 30 Mar 2006
From: basehorawards [#27]
31 Mar 2006
To: ALL
The KC manager's name is Aaron. He is fairly young but has done all the work setting up the warehouse (big) on his own so he is clearly a hard worker.
He did not have any business cards yet but does have a local number: 913-227-0999.
He said that he can not yet process orders locally but hopes to soon.
Zona, he said that by all means you should call him that way he can give a heads up to his regional manager to make sure he has your product when you order.
From: Frazee1 [#28]
24 Apr 2006
To: Frazee1 [#14] 24 Apr 2006
Just as an update to my post in regards to Marco, Discount whatever any of you want to call them.
I have placed my final order with them!
They have made the last mistake with me, which was very typical of them. I placed an order around the first of March. I ordered a case of risers and a case of SILVER soccer balls along with some other items.
For those two items they sent me "red" neck ribbon and GOLD soccer balls. They even put a note on the invoice to make sure they sent me "silver" as this mistake had already been made twice before!
When I called about the mistake, they told me they would reship it net 10 and would send a call tag for the wrong items. I told the person that from so many experiences with them to make sure they did send a call tag to prevent problems down the road.
They never sent the call tag which didn't surprise me.
An employee called me about other open invoices which were ones like this, not real, just their mistakes! I asked her about the call tags they were supposed to send and she didn't even see that I had items to be shipped back!
I explained the problems and she was going to send call tags, which was a few weeks ago. They never came. Today I placed an order and they informed me they were adding$152.00 on my c o d to cover for all these open invoices.
I pay them c.o d. or credit card. It is impossible for me to owe them money. Some of the items I was ordering today was for showroom samples. I ended up cancelling my order, taking all their items out of my showroom and throwing their catalog in the garbage!
I have lost lots of money buying showroom samples from them but I guess it will just be as a lesson learned. This last incident is normal of their company and if anyone has thought about buying from them, please reconsider.
They are not worth the trouble! Wade Drayer, my sales rep told me when he visited my store, he was going to put me on end case pricing, that never happened.
He bad mouthed all the other suppliers like Marco was the best. Ha! Ha! He gave me his cell number just incase there were any problems, he never followed up on calls and must have caller I.D. because he wouldn't answer his phone.
He turned out to be just as good as his company. I have a very good strong business and I would close it down before buying from them again!
Please, for all of you that have trouble with them, do as I have and throw away their catalog! It will prevent blood pressures going up etc... They are not worth the paper the catalog is printed on.
EDITED: 24 Apr 2006 by DGL
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#29]
24 Apr 2006
To: Frazee1 [#28] 25 Apr 2006
I think this is a first, and I thought twice, before doing it.
I edited your post, without changing its content.
The all-bold letters, in the form of a single "wall of text", made it very difficult to read.
Sorry to have tampered with your post, but I think more people will be inclined read it, as a result.
EDITED: 24 Apr 2006 by DGL
From: Frazee1 [#30]
25 Apr 2006
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#29] 25 Apr 2006
Thanks for caring! In a local forum we have in our town, if you don't do bold its hard to read. Thanks again as I do want everyone to understand what they are getting into if they do buy from Marco. One thing I may not have mentioned was that when this sales rep Wade Drayer came into my store, I explained to him the frustrations of dealing with them and he said they knew they had problems and most had been cleaned up. Maybe thats why he understood so quickly when I told him no more orders from me. It came close to stunning me when he responded "ok". Legit companies without problems would have tried to make things right! I must say, it wouldn't have done any good at this point to say the least.
So, for anyone looking for good suppliers look beyond Marco/Discount. All the others Plastic-Plus, JDS etc are fine to deal with. JDS will give end case pricing and will actually give it to you. In 10 years of buying from Plastic Plus, I can't think of any problems that made me want to find another supplier! They have not offered any extras like the end case pricing but the service is well worth missing them. Good luck to all, and thanks again David for fixing my post!
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#31]
12 Jun 2006
To: ALL
Marco Update!
I know there are others on the forum that were pretty excited to hear that Marco/Discount Trophy was going to be opening a warehouse in the Kansas City area. To date, I have heard plenty of stories about the inconsistent inventory levels.
I spoke with a national representative for Marco to determine whether their inventory issues were something that was standard practice. The response was as evasive as would be expected.
I spoke with Aaron, who manages the warehouse in Kansas. His answers seemed very honest and direct.
He indicated that he only got about half of the warehouse set up with shelving before the busy season kicked in. It was only he and a second employee who were handling the operation, which put a quick stop to the completion of their set-up. He said that things have slowed a little and he will be focusing on getting the balance of the shelving up, which will allow him to get his inventory levels up.
I asked him if he was required to stock all of the items in the catalog. He told be that was his goal. That tells me that it is optional.
The order I placed today was for six different items. To complete the order, the items would need to have been shipped from 3 different warehouses. I ended up ordering the items they had in Kansas, and canceling the balance. I now have to contact my customer to make alternative plans.
Unless Aaron is able to buck the trend of what I see in the other Marco/DTC warehouses, I don't see the company ever becoming more than a back-up source to companies like JDS or Plastic Plus.
EDITED: 12 Jun 2006 by DATAKES
From: basehorawards [#32]
12 Jun 2006
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#31] 12 Jun 2006
I ordered some silver plated trays from them on May 24th for a customer that I do an order for each week. I may get them this week. I have had to rearrange my customer's orders twice to compensate for not having the trays. Not good service.
In my opinion they have too many warehouses. They do not keep enough stock in each warehouse because they have so many. Fewer warehouses strategically placed is a far better business model than Marco's.
From: Mike (SPACE_ENGRAVERS) [#33]
12 Jun 2006
To: ALL
I too have had many issues with DTC. Unfortunately they have several items that I can't find other places for a reasonable price. Several of their eagles and a couple of their military items are really nice but I can't find them at JDS or others...so I have to keep ordering from them. So far, of our three orders we've placed with the, everyone has had issues. The first order they didn't tell me that it was split shipped and a $1.69 item cost me an extra $8.79 in shipping cost. I won't recover that price in the least. I'm really hoping that the Kansas warehouse will be much better!
Mike
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